John Terry has admitted that Chelsea must dig themselves out of a “hole” to prevent their entire campaign collapsing into disrepair.

Chelsea head into a potentially season-defining run of three games against Spurs, Manchester United and Arsenal in the space of 15 days on the back of the club’s worst run since Gianluca Vialli was sacked in 2000.

Another miserable display and defeat in Marseille left boss Carlo Ancelotti suggesting Tottenham would be viewed as the favourites for Sunday’s showdown in north London, and Terry did not mince his words as he called for frank talking in the dressing room to turn the season round.

Just two wins in their last eight games is a crisis by Chelsea's modern-day standards and Terry said: “There’s no point pointing the finger, because we have all not done as well as we did earlier on in the season.

“We are not going to dig each other out. It’s about being told and listening to what each other has to say, because we have got a lot of experience in the dressing room.

“I’m sure someone can come up with something to get us out of this hole.”

Should Manchester City win at West Ham on Saturday, Chelsea will have to beat Spurs to avoid slipping into fourth place - even before United’s clash with Arsenal on Monday.

“It’s not a nice feeling to be struggling like this,” conceded Terry. “When you go four or five years with that winning feeling, week after week, and not suffering a blip like this, it is hard to take.

“I’ve not been through anything like this in my 11 years at this football club, but the more worried and the more stressed you get about things, the harder it becomes.

“This is a time when things are not clicking. We were getting ricochets or deflected goals but when the chips are down you have to dig deep and make that happen yourself, because in this game no-one is going to give you anything.

“I think we just have got to get back to basics and look at what we were doing earlier on the season - playing with no fear, playing with confidence, getting at teams, having shots on goal, putting crosses into the box.

“We certainly have the ability, nothing has changed there. Tactics haven’t changed, players haven’t changed. We are not just playing well at the moment. At times, you are going to have to just do a lot better than the opposition and at the minute we are not wanting it as much as them.”

An accusation like that from a player whose commitment is total sums up the problems facing Ancelotti, with Jose Bosingwa having joined the lengthy injury list ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane.

Terry, who believes he has got to the bottom of the piriformis muscle problem that threatened to wreck his season, insisted there was no question of the Chelsea players folding.

“No chance, no chance,” he maintained.

“I certainly won’t, the manager won’t and we have big characters such as Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda. It’s about staying together and believing in each other. It is time for us all to stand up.

“We can change things. It would be different if we were three points behind Manchester United and didn’t still have to play them. Then it would be all in their hands.

“But we have to play Tottenham away, United at home, Arsenal away. They are obviously tough games, but listen, we have big players here and hopefully they are prepared to rise to the challenge and put their necks on the line for the next few games.”

Terry admitted: “We are going through a bad spell. A couple of weeks ago we were seven points clear, 20 goals ahead of most teams and now we are trailing behind.

“But it’s not a crisis at all at the moment. We are still in with a very good shout in the Premier League and we went through in the Champions League having lost only one game.

“The good thing is we are not like Liverpool at the moment. We are not out of it. We are still in with a very good chance. We certainly have the ability and the players to go to places like Tottenham, to go to Arsenal and get great wins like we have done in previous years.

“We went three years without winning the Premier League and we got a taste of having it back last season. Believe me, the celebration after that, that feeling of winning and getting our hands on that trophy, was unbelievable. It was like the first time we had won the trophy.

“The players realise that if we don’t start winning again soon then we are going to be giving it away to United, who are not playing well at the moment, or to Arsenal, who are not playing well at the moment.”

Drogba agreed with his skipper as he said: “If we win these games it will change the situation we’re in. It’s not finished yet.

“It’s a difficult moment for us but this is the kind of thing that can happen to many teams. It’s rare for Chelsea to have a period like this and I hope it’s going to get better.

“Maybe everyone will expect us to lose on Sunday but it could be different.

"I see Tottenham as genuine title rivals. They’re having a good season and there is no reason why they can’t challenge. Chelsea used to beat them regularly but things change, that’s life. It is up to us to make it happen again.”

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